Cake (38 page)

I flicked a wing out across her path as she stepped towards me, her arms outstretched. “I’m a new vampire. I have absolutely no control over my fangs. I haven’t eaten enough,” I warned her.

“
I can see that, my son. Look at you…nothing but skin and bones. And your eyes are all better. You can see!” She stroked my wing briefly and then gently pushed it out of her way.

I always remembered her as being taller than me. Maybe because she’d still been larger than me before my eyesight started to fade, and I’d been forced to see the world through inch thick glasses. As she hugged me now, her head fell under my chin, and her hands stroked my back calmingly, the way she’d always done whenever I was upset.

“
You’re too skinny, and those clothes make you look cheap,” she chastised sharply, before her voice turned softer. “You disappeared, and we couldn’t find out anything about what had happened to you. Any information about you just vanished as if you’d never existed. But I knew you were still alive. A mother always knows these things. I’m so glad that you’re safe.” She buried her face in my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, hugging her tight. I’d thought I’d never see her again.

“
What are you being sent to jail for little bro?” There was wryness in Shayne’s tone of voice when she asked her question, and I knew she was mocking me. I felt my face color up.

“
Prostitution.”

Shayne slid her sword back into its sheath. “If you hadn’t blushed, I would have had to do some smack down on ya.” She gave an awkward smile. “I’m glad you’re alive, even if you are now a bloodsucking fiend.”

“
Royalty, baby girl, he’s royalty,” Mom corrected as she squeezed me tight. My wings came around and mimicked my hug on her.

“
Oh pardon me,
royal,
bloodsucking fiend,” Shayne said sarcastically, walking towards me. “Cool wings. Can I have a feather?” She yanked one out. I winced, and my eyes welled up, just as if she had pulled out a nose hair. She twirled the feather innocently in her fingers. “Hey, I asked.” I gave her a fake smile. Shayne saw it and grinned. “Mom, you want one?”

Three missing feathers later, and Dad finally lowered the containment spell he’d had on me, my ears popping as if we had changed elevation suddenly. My wings had by now folded back into a resting position, I think mainly out of self-preservation because they were out of range of Shayne’s feather-plucking fingers.

Dad clasped Mom on the shoulder, and then reached out and caught me around the back of the head. He stepped up close and touched my forehead with his own.

“
Du Bussey took you by force, didn’t he, son? He raped you and messed with your mind until you started to like it. He reset your sexual preference.”

“
Dad…” I looked over at Mom. I didn’t want her going medieval on Marcus, mainly because I knew she would win. But Marcus hadn’t reset my sexual preference; he’d simply made me face it. Still, coming out as being a homosexual to my parents was a whole bigger deal to me than coming out as a vampire.

“
Did he hurt you?”

I so did not want to be talking to anyone about this, much less my father while my mother and big sister were within hearing distance. I lowered my voice to a quiet whisper.

“
In the beginning, but not since…”

“
Since what?” Mom’s voice was sharp, picking up on my hesitation. I’d forgotten how good her hearing was.

“
Since I stabbed him,” I confessed.

Dad caught me up in a bear hug. “That’s my boy, Edward. And if he ever tries to hurt you again, you call me and I’ll have your mother come down and teach him some manners.”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
Thank God you’re alive,” he said, grinning as he mussed my hair. Then he frowned and looked pointedly at the long ponytail that was hanging down my back. “You might want to think about getting a hair cut, Lord Emperor Edward.”

“
It’s Lord Emperor Xavier
,
” I corrected.

“
Did you hear that Ma? He’s Lord Emperor
Xavier
,” Shayne teased as she reached out and touched the ruby stud sitting in my ear. “This is
his
isn’t it?” I nodded. “Oh little bro, I knew you were going to be trouble the day you came home from the hospital.” She leaned in to me. “You know, if you are going to be claiming the throne then you’re going to have to top him. It won’t do the vampire nation any good to have a uke ruler.”

“
Shayne!” I gasped, my blush returning tenfold. Big sisters have no boundaries, even if you
are
the would-be lord of the monsters.

“
My sentiments are with Dad,” she continued. “If that vampire hurts you, I’ll be hunting him too, you tell him that.” She had that unnatural hunter’s gleam in her eyes when she said that. “And you better be a good vampire. I don’t want my granddaughters having to stake you. Can you fly, or are those just for show?” She flicked her hand over my feathers.

“
I’m supposed to be able to. But I need to practice.”

“
You can use the barn,” Dad suggested helpfully.

Mom came over, giving me another hug. “Yes, that’s a good idea. Come on Sunday to use it, and bring your boyfriend with you to dinner,” she said smiling. Then she slapped me, hard. “That’s for not calling home,” she pouted.

Ow. I hadn’t had access to a phone. Hm, maybe she didn’t need to know that. “I thought I was protecting you,” I cried.

“
Shayne and I protect the members of this family. It has been this way for centuries. The women are the Hunters.”

“
Yes ma’am.”

She gently kissed the red handprint that was no doubt staining my face. “It’s 3:00pm. The days are getting shorter, so there should be some shade outside for you now,” she said.

The door opened inward again, and I just stood there, with my wings exposed, wondering who was entering this time. And when I saw who it was, I actually felt my heart skip a beat.

Marcus!

He winced at my involuntary scream as he stepped in the room, shutting the door quickly behind him. He looked at the gathered assembly momentarily, and then the Hunter scent hit him. His eyes flared red and he positioned himself between me and what he took to be perceived danger, hip-checking me back onto the table before I had a chance to say anything.

“
Marcus!” I yelled out. “Meet my parents, and my sister.”

I brought a wing up and wrapped it around his shoulder, using it to drag him back to me, to get him out of reach of my sister’s short sword that had almost magically re-appeared again in her hand.

“
Parents?” The hint of red sheen in Marcus’s eyes faded, and he straightened up from his defensive posture. “Hunters? You are from a family of Hunters? And how did you get that mark on your cheek, Xavier?” His own palm pressed softly over the heat on my face.

Mom showed him how. She stepped up and slapped Marcus hard across his face too. I winced when his neck cracked as his head turned with the force of the blow. She hadn’t taken anything off that strike.

Marcus blinked in surprise as he looked down at her. On me, mom came up to my chin. On Marcus, she was about level with his chest, and she was jabbing at it now with a finger.

“
That was for turning my son into a fashion victim. It’s painful to see him so skinny, and now he’ll be like that forever. You need to feed him more. He’s starving.” She stopped her jabbing and turned to look at me. “Baby boy, I’ll see you on Sunday. I’ll make your favorite dish. And blood pudding too, maybe you can eat that.”

“
Okay, Mom.”

“
Give me a kiss.” I meekly leaned towards her and kissed her forehead before giving Dad a hug. Then I scooted around Marcus in order to give a quick kiss to Shayne.

“
He’s gorgeous,” she purred. “I bet he makes you scream. Remember, make him your uke.”

Could she have said it any louder? I flushed red, kissed her temple, and then stood back away from the door, so that they could leave and not give anyone outside a look at my wings.

“
Your mother slapped me!” Marcus proclaimed once they had left, holding a hand up to his face rubbing, and probing the inside of his mouth with his tongue.

I went to the table and leaned heavily on it. The aftermath of all that had happened was catching up with me, and I started shaking. I lay my face down on the table and gripped the sides, because my legs wouldn’t hold me up. Familiar arms caught me before I hit the floor.

“
Xavier, why do you have your wings out? Why are you in a police station when I expressly ordered Darius to take you home?” His questioning tone changed to one of genuine puzzlement. “And why is that officer just standing there in the corner like that?”

I turned into a leech. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hung on to him for all I was worth. “I thought they were going to fucking stake me as soon as they walked in the door. I swear I thought my own family was going to kill me!”

I burst into tears as Marcus’s hand buried itself in my hair. “Why did you not simply come home?”

“
Because I don’t know where the hell ‘home’ is,” I wailed. “And I don’t have your phone number. I didn’t even know that you had a last name until my mother told me. Sure, I’ve heard Du Bussey mentioned a couple of times, but I never actually clued in that it was your last name. I thought it was this House thing you and Claudius talk about. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’ve been running around this fucking city dazed and lost since…” My mind went back to the crash. “Oh god, they killed Darius.”

“
Yes, the wreckage of the limo was discovered, but they didn’t kill Darius,” Marcus said, his caressing hands on my head soothing me. “He was seriously injured, but he will survive. Our own House was able to clean up the site without involving the local authorities, which is why I was so concerned when you did not return home.”

My wings rustled as my body shook with my racking sobs. “I…I can’t survive out here alone, Marcus. I wanted so much to feed, to drink deeply, but I knew I’d just end up killing someone if I attacked them.”

I felt his hand stroking the back of my neck, his fingers moving in small semi circles. The touch seemed to calm the shakes I was experiencing and I felt my wings relax and lay flush against my body. Soon, only the noise of the crappy ventilation system and my hiccupping sobs were to be heard in the room, as my tears slowly dried up and stopped.

“
Shush, Little One,” Marcus crooned. “I keep forgetting how young you are. Up. I want you to drink.” He lifted me off of him, wrapping an arm under my wings to support me. Then he grabbed Nolan from whatever binding I had placed on him and dragged the detective towards me.

“
Drink. Armanita said that you need to be calm for your wings to be absorbed back into your body. Take just enough from this man to ease your hunger. I will manipulate his mind for you this time.”

My fangs extended, and I bit down. Nolan tasted of bitter black coffee. Supping on his blood was almost like drinking espresso.

“
Enough,” Marcus warned. “Killing an officer of the law is never a good thing to do, Little One.”

I laved the wounds, savoring the taste as I sealed the bite marks, while Marcus stared in concentration at Detective Nolan for a moment. Then he eased the man gently to the floor.

“
Sleep.”

The detective obediently began snoring. Marcus tucked one of Nolan’s arms beneath his head as a pillow, and then turned to me. “Now would be the time for a little Flame, but if it doesn’t want to flare, we can do this the old fashioned way.”

“
Do what, what way?” I asked, feeling stronger. At least my hands weren’t visibly trembling anymore.

“
Fornicate.”

Say what?

Marcus continued on without missing a beat. “When you achieve orgasm, you are absolutely spineless, and that is about as calm as I have ever seen you. As soon as we get rid of your wings, we can head home, which happens to be at 913 West Avenue. I’ll get you a cell phone tomorrow, and set up a bank account, with some credit cards.”